| U S D A / R u r a l D e v e l o p m e n t |
| WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250-0705 |
News Release |
Dan Campbell (202) 720-6483
dan.campbell@usda.gov
LOWER COMMODITY PRICES CAUSE DROP IN SALES BY CO-OPS
Farmer-owned co-op assets hit record $47.7 billion
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2000--The nation's farmer-owned cooperatives experienced a drop in both sales and income in 1999, reflecting a general, 9-percent downturn in farm commodity values, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today. However, combined asset values of cooperatives reached a record-high $47.7 billion in 1999, 2.4 percent ($1.1 billion) more than in 1998.
The 3,469 farmer cooperatives surveyed by USDA account for nearly one-third of U.S. farm output and farm supply sales.
Total cooperative business -- which includes receipts from the sale of crops, livestock, farm supplies and services -- was $100.1 billion in 1999, down 4.4 percent from $104.7 billion in 1998.
A 19.2-percent (or $4.1 billion) decline in the value of grains and oilseeds marketed and sharp drops in feed and fertilizer prices were among the major causes for the decrease.
Cooperative-provided services (such as cotton ginning, livestock breeding, trucking, etc.) and miscellaneous income was a bright spot in the sales picture, rising an impressive 12.1 percent, to nearly $3.9 billion. Dairy co-ops also bucked the downtrend, with a 3.8 percent gain in sales, to $26.3 billion in 1999. Also posting increase were fruit and vegetable co-ops, up 3.4 percent, to $9.7 billion.
Co-ops collected $72.7 billion from farm marketing (selling, bargaining for and/or processing members' crops and livestock) and $23.5 billion from the sale of farm supplies (including fertilizer, crop protectants, seed, feed, etc.).
Total net income of $1.4 billion for farmer cooperatives in 1999 was down 19.8 percent from $1.7 billion in 1998 -- the lowest level since 1993 and well under record income of $2.36 billion set in 1995, according to data compiled by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service of USDA Rural Development. Cooperatives earned $940.6 million in net income from marketing farm commodities and value-added goods in 1999, a decline of 7.6 percent; they earned $350.5 million from farm supply sales, 39.4 percent less than in 1998.
The number of U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives dropped to 3,469, down from 3,651 in 1998, reflecting the ongoing trend of mergers, consolidations, acquisitions and dissolutions.
Memberships in farmer cooperatives totaled 3.19 million in 1999, down 4.8 percent from 1998. The number of memberships is larger than the number of farms (about 2 million) because many farmers belong to more than one cooperative.
Agricultural cooperatives are major sources of jobs in both rural and urban areas, employing 172,814 full-time workers in 1999.
Note: Two tables with co-op sales and income data follow.
| Commodity or function | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|
| Million dollars | ||
| Products marketed: | ||
| Cotton | 2,083 | 2,961 |
| Dairy | 26,287 | 25,329 |
| Fruits and vegetables | 9,707 | 9,391 |
| Grains and oilseeds 3 | 17,196 | 21,291 |
| Livestock and poultry | 9,530 | 9,555 |
| Rice | 912 | 932 |
| Sugar | 2,514 | 2,445 |
| Other products 4 | 4,420 | 4,737 |
| Total | 72,650 | 76,642 |
| Supplies sold: | ||
| Crop protectants | 3,082 | 3,166 |
| Feed | 4,639 | 5,405 |
| Fertilizer | 4,834 | 5,170 |
| Petroleum | 6,388 | 6,616 |
| Seed | 781 | 732 |
| Other supplies 5 | 3,795 | 3,462 |
| Total farm supplies | 23,518 | 24,551 |
| Related-services and other income: 6 | 3,894 | 3,473 |
| Total | 100,062 | 104,667 |
1 Preliminary. Totals may not add due to rounding.
2 Excludes inter-cooperative business. Volume includes value of products associated with cooperatives that operate on a commission basis or bargain for members' products.
3 Excludes cottonseed.
4 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool and other miscellaneous products.
5 Includes building materials, containers, hardware, tires-batteries-accessories (TBA), farm machinery and equipment, food and other supplies.
6 Includes trucking, ginning, storage, artificial insemination, rice drying and other.
| Cooperative type | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|
| Million dollars | ||
| Marketing: | ||
| Cotton | 69.9 | 64.0 |
| Dairy | 303.9 | 447.2 |
| Fruit and vegetables | 99.7 | 76.9 |
| Grain and oilseed | 323.7 | 441.4 |
| Livestock and poultry | 62.1 | -71.2 |
| Rice | 6.1 | 7.3 |
| Sugar | -19.3 | -12.1 |
| Other marketing 3 | 94.5 | 64.0 |
| Total | 940.6 | 1,017.5 |
| Farm supply | 350.5 | 578.8 |
| Related-service 4 | 105.7 | 146.0 |
| Total | 1,396.7 | 1,742.3 |
1 Preliminary. Totals may not add due to rounding.
2 Net income less losses and before income taxes.
3 Includes dry edible bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool, fish and miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
4 Includes trucking, ginning, storage, artificial insemination and other.
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